The Most Important Lessons
by fantasychica37
Summary: Eldarion is immature, but Aragorn has learned the lessons of the Age well, and he loves his family dearly. And Faramir is justified at last. Written for Autumn Intervention


**Just a teeny note- Aragorn said Arwen could still sail at his death in the Appendices, so my guess is that she is still an Elf... so just go with the reference to Arwen's sharp Elven hearing, OK?**

**No, Celebrían's name is not canon... but it's very likely, and they did have daughters, so I hope this still counts for the Autumn Intervention.**

**gwador nín- my brother (not by blood but in a sense of being blood brothers or as close as brothers)**

**Also, in Gondor the New Year is March 25, the day the One Ring was destroyed.**

**Enjoy!**

Following familiar-sounding wails, Aragorn found Celebrían hiding under the table in the family dining room, curled up into a little ball and sobbing.

"Brí?" he asked, kneeling and opening his arms to her. "What's wrong?"

"I accidentally knocked over 'Darion's toy soldiers and he yelled at me and said that I was a stupid little girl and that you loved him more because he's the oldest and heir to the throne!" bawled Celebrían, her wails getting progressively louder.

Aragorn was going to go off and find Eldarion to give him a talking-to when it hit him what his youngest had said. Elrond had been like a father to Aragorn, but when Aragorn had become a father, he had vowed that his children would grow up knowing their blood parents and knowing their parents' love.

...Unlike those of his Steward predecessor...

Images raced through Aragorn's mind like lightning- _a deathly-pale figure, burning to the touch and shining with oil, lying hopeless upon a pallet amid the stench of blood and death... darkness surrounding the soul belonging to that body, wearying Aragorn- who had fought a battle already, and lost one of his last kinsmen- almost to the point where he could carry on no longer, but he simply had to save this Man... Frodo's eyes, which had so often been clouded and despairing, shining with gratitude and the memory of friendship and comfort at a time when he had needed it most upon meeting Aragorn's Steward once more... and the light in Faramir's eyes when Aragorn first gave him the smallest of compliments..._

Aragorn pulled Celebrían out from under the table, hugging her tightly to him. "Oh, my Brí," he whispered, "my wonderful, beloved daughter." When his daughter's sobs had quieted, Aragorn gently set her down on a chair and stood up, calling out, "House of Telcontar family meeting in the family dining room, now!"

Arwen entered shortly, firmly holding the hand of a mutinous-looking Eldarion who, it appeared, had been caught by his sharp-eared Elven mother. Aragorn nodded to her slightly and said, "Eldarion, sit down next to your sister."

"Would you like to say something to your sister, Eldarion?" Arwen asked, giving him a look which she had learned from her grandmother.

"I'm sorry I didn't mean it," mumbled Eldarion at the ground.

Celebrían sniffed and wiped her eyes with the back of her hand.

"And Eldarion," said Arwen, "Celebrían did not mean to knock over your toy soldiers. It was an accident. Even though you were angry, it's never okay to be mean to people."

"But I'd worked for weeks on setting up the Battle of Helm's Deep and Elboron was going to come over and play with them with me!" protested Eldarion.

"I know how disappointing that is," consoled Aragorn, "but there's something funny about things and people: You can always rebuild a thing, but once you say something that hurts someone else's feelings, you can never take it back. No thing is ever important enough to be mean to someone over."

"You're the heir to the throne, so you have to be nice to me!" Celebrían, apparently recovered from Eldarion's taunting, said smugly.

"No," said Aragorn, "this is not because Eldarion was born into a high position. This is about being a good person, no matter who you are." Then he gravely looked Eldarion in the eyes and said, "And I never want to hear you use your position to put someone down or excuse bad behavior or get special privileges again. This goes for you also, Celebrían. We are royals simply because our distant ancestor Elros Tar-Minyatur fought valiantly in the War of Wrath and was chosen to lead a kingdom of Men, and thanks to the efforts of millions over two Ages to preserve that kingdom and its people- one of those most important people being a simple gardener from a quiet land that most of Gondor thought was a fairy tale. You are no different from the woman who washes your shirts- or from girls, one of whom killed the Witch-King of Angmar. Do you understand?"

Eldarion nodded sullenly.

"And there's something else we need you both to know," added Aragorn in a gentler tone, dropping to his knees and putting an arm each around his children. Arwen sat down in the chair next to Eldarion.

"Your mother and I love you both so very much," said Aragorn. "You are both special and precious in your own ways, and just because one of you is a boy and the other is a girl means nothing to how much we love you. No matter how many children we have, or what you do, or what other people say about you- or even if we are disappointed in you when you are mean to each other- we will always love you, equally, with our whole hearts. Never forget that."

Eldarion and Celebrían both nodded, and Aragorn and Arwen hugged their two children tightly.

"Even though you got mad at me?" Eldarion asked in a quavery voice.

"Even though we got mad at you," Arwen affirmed. "But we are only disappointed because we love you and want to see you become the very best person you can be."

"I love you too, Ada and Nana," Eldarion whispered.

"Me too," added Celebrían. Aragorn squeezed them tighter.

After a time Aragorn extracted himself from the four-way hug and looked up at the clock. "I have an hour before the meeting with the Haradric ambassador," he said. "I know I've been very busy this past week, so I think that that hour would be very well spent helping Eldarion rebuild his Helm's Deep battle- and perhaps my lady Celebrían would care to entertain me for tea?"

Both children beamed and threw their arms around their father. "And Naneth could play Helm's Deep too!" added Eldarion.

Arwen considered. "I would love to fight alongside you, Lord Eldarion," she said formally.

"And maybe all your dead soldiers can have a tea party with us!" said Celebrían excitedly. "I think that if the Uruk-Hai had tea parties they'd be much nicer..."

And on Aragorn's little family went as they rounded the corner. Aragorn split off, though, and went to Faramir who was waiting in the King's sitting room, holding a document in his hands, looking sheepish, his eyes brimming with tears. Aragorn could tell that Faramir had heard the whole exchange.

"I have the ceremonies... for the New Year celebrations... in ten days' time... organized..." Faramir stuttered before breaking down in tears.

Aragorn quickly took the papers from Faramir's hands, set them down, and pulled the brother of his heart into his arms.

Faramir wept as he had never allowed himself to weep before. "You are... a wonderful King..." he choked out, "and a... wonderful... father..."

Aragorn held the Man close, stroking his hair and letting him bury his head on Aragorn's shoulder. "And you, gwador nín," he murmured, "are the most noble Man I have ever met."

Through his tears, Faramir smiled. All would be well.

**Yes, Aragorn has two children. Yes, it is March 15, which is the anniversary of the Battle of the Pelennor Fields and Denethor's suicide.**

**And yes, perhaps if the Uruk-hai had tea parties, they would be much nicer.**


End file.
